Barlow Lyde & Gilbert has predicted a £17m increase in turnover following its acquisition of Halliwells' Manchester insurance arm last year.

The firm's limited liability partnership (LLP) accounts, recently filed on Companies House, show that the firm expects to see revenues increase by £17m as a direct result of taking on "the majority of partners, staff and business of the insurance group of Halliwells" in July 2010.

The 2009-10 accounts also show that the highest-paid partner took home a total of £425,043 – up 4% from a top level of £410,244 in 2008-09.

Meanwhile, staff numbers at the firm fell by an average of 50 across the year to 602 in 2009-10, which resulted in a decrease in staff costs from £39m to £37m.

For the full 2009-10 year, Barlows' turnover dipped by 6.3% to £81.5m, with profits per equity partner rising by around 3% to £300,000.

The firm reported a 17% increase in H1 turnover in November 2010, posting revenues of £44.5m for the first half of 2010-11, against the figure of £38.1m recorded at the same point last year.

Barlows chief executive David Jabbari (pictured) told Legal Week: "We have made it clear that 2009-10 was always going to be a tough year, in that we took all the costs and disruption associated with a major restructuring aimed at refocusing on our core markets of insurance and dispute resolution.

"Our first-half results for 2010-11 show a clear improvement in all key financial indicators, and we are continuing to look at opportunities for further growth both in London and overseas."